


When the Wagon Rolled into Town

by magickaytlin



Category: American Murder Song - Various (Album)
Genre: Arson, Child Abuse, Drinking, Gen, Physical Abuse, Self-Insertish, also female cain, cain is tired of everyone, the blood travellers adopt a child
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-26 16:52:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19009879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magickaytlin/pseuds/magickaytlin
Summary: Prairietown, 1836. It's a quiet town. A nice town. The kind of town where everyone knows everyone and travelers always have a room at the Golden Eagle Inn. The peace is quickly interrupted, however, when a strange wagon rolls in and the cries of "Murder! Murder!" are screamed out.





	When the Wagon Rolled into Town

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to blame the_prose_in_which_the_filth_dwells for inspiring me with their wonderful work! And also kitsune_gari for unintentionally inspiring me to finally work on this after starting and scrapping it several times.

Katalin Stafford woke up to blinding sunlight shining through her windows. The days were starting earlier and earlier, making waking up so much more difficult. She groaned and turned over onto her stomach in a weak attempt to try and return to sleep. Though her eyes drooped and the blanket welcomed her into its warm embrace, a noise outside made her gently grab her glasses off of the bedside table and squint through the window.

What she saw was definitely far from normal. It was a wagon with what appeared to be two stories and was painted all black. _A black wagon!_ Katalin thought to herself. _Whoever heard of such a thing?_

The teen sighed and slid out of her bed to get ready for the day. She chose a white dress with red stripes for the day. Katalin smirked at herself as she tied her hair into two low ponytails with red ribbons. “Look at you, Katalin.” She said to herself. “You look quite lovely today.”

“If you’re _quite_ done gawking at yourself,” came a voice from the doorway. “you’ve got chores to do so I hope you hurry before lunchtime.”

“Mama!” She pouted, turning to look at the older woman who has begun to walk into her room. She was definitely mature, with black hair pulled into a bun and brown eyes.

“Don’t ‘mama’ me, you slept in late again. You’re lucky that the schoolteacher is out sick or I would have woken you up myself. Here,” she handed the teen a small basket. “The inn-girls requested a new batch of muffins for dinner tonight. Oh! That also reminds me, your father is coming home today as well.”

Katalin bit back a sigh. Instead, she simply huffed and walked past Mama and out the door. “If he insists… I don’t see why he just stays up there. Fishing isn’t hard!”

“You know how he is, family man. Now hush up, and don’t forget to stop by the general store for flour and sugar!”

Prairietown was thankfully small. The Inn was at the end of it, or the beginning depending on which direction you came from. 

“Mr. Whitaker!” Called out Katalin once she spotted the blacksmith. He lived across from the Staffords’, past the little clearing.

“Ah, hello little baker’s daughter! How is your mother faring?”

“She’s well. Papa’s coming home today too.”

“I see! Well, he’ll have a warm welcome. Tell your mother if you two need extra money, I could always have you shovel coal!” The man chuckled as he turned to go inside.

“Hah! Good luck trying to convince her! See you, Mr. Whitaker.” With a wave and a skip, Katalin was off again.

The morning was mostly quiet, everyone busying up for the day in their own houses. The only people out and about she could see were three travelers by that big black wagon. She couldn’t help but look them over as she walked. Two men, one female. She could assume that much by how they dressed.

The female was donned in an all-black dress, with long sleeves that trailed off at the ends. She also had a hat with a feather. Is she mourning? She noticed the men were all in black too- one curly haired, and one with no hair at all.

Katalin didn’t have much time to look though. The woman looked up, smirked, then turned to her companions and told them something while gesturing to the girl. She froze up for a moment and began to hurry past, keeping her eyes on the ground until she came in range of the Inn.

“Sarah! Saaaadie!~” The teenager called loudly in a sing-song voice while darting up to the door. “I have a delivery!~”

 The door opened to reveal two excited brunettes, twins.

“Katalin! Do you have our muffins? Come in, come in!” The one on Katalin’s left, Sadie,  chirped while Sarah closed the door behind the younger girl.

“Mhm! And how are my two lovely inn girls doing?”

“Oh, lovely! Except for one thing..” Sadie trailed off and Sarah took the hint to continue. “It’s those travelers. They’re making us uneasy. Haven’t even come in to grab a room yet!”

“Are you kidding? They probably don’t need one. Have you even seen their wagon? It looks like a house on wagon wheels!” Katalin unpacked the muffins with a snort.

“You’re probably right,” Sarah sighed. “I wish they would come in instead of standing out there. Looking like strangers!”

Sadie giggled. “I bet those are some handsome men out there!”

This caused Katalin to burst into laughter, although she quickly silenced herself when a knock on the door sounded out. Sarah rushed around from the counter while Sadie took the muffins and stored them under the said counter.

“Thank you, Miss Stafford!” She said as the door opened. Both her and Katalin were intent on seeming like they hadn’t been gossiping. “These muffins are sure to make our guests…” The older girl trailed off as her gaze slid to the two men her sister welcomed in. “Well, hello there, you fine gentlemen! And a fine lady as well! How can I and my sister serve you?”

The teenager let out an exasperated, but playful laugh. “I see how it is, Miss Zimmerman! I’ll take my leave if you would rather have mature company.”

The three travelers gave soft chuckles at the girl’s response, watching as she exited the Inn. As they stared at her, the young brunette couldn’t help but shiver. Something was… _off_.


End file.
